Rusty Shovel
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
I’m loving my Jeep—so everyone please don’t dogpile me, but I’ve got a hot-take on the LED headlight package:
It’s dangerous in snow. I can’t believe it even got DOT approval.
i had to drive through a blizzard the other night. But never fear, I have a Rubicon! Right!? Wrong. Within minutes I was driving blind. The LED headlights (which are fantastic otherwise) were COMPLETELY packed with snow. I couldn’t even see the reflectors on the sides of the road. I kept having to pull over to ‘unpack’ them.
I think this is an epic fail on Jeep’s part. ‘A million miles of testing’ didn’t reveal that the recessed headlights were vulnerable to being packed with snow when coupled with LED lights?
How much is the LED package? $1,200!? How much more would it have cost FCA to include heating elements? About $50.
** EDIT: Geez! Seventeen pages! (and counting!)**
Here’s a concise summary of all those posts, for those of you that don’t want to read through all the malarkey.
1. Apply wax or rainx to the headlight lenses.
2. (Most likely the best answer) install a pair of halogen accessory lights.
3. There was a lively, yet ultimately fruitless, discussion about what Jeep should do. Folks landed in one of four camps:
4. There was an even less useful discussion on FCA’s potential legal exposure.
5. For snow use, yellow tinted fogs are best.
**Edit: I tinted the KC covers yellow
6. Folks from New Jersey don’t like Utahns
…and that’s it, everything else was meaningless porch barking.
It’s dangerous in snow. I can’t believe it even got DOT approval.
i had to drive through a blizzard the other night. But never fear, I have a Rubicon! Right!? Wrong. Within minutes I was driving blind. The LED headlights (which are fantastic otherwise) were COMPLETELY packed with snow. I couldn’t even see the reflectors on the sides of the road. I kept having to pull over to ‘unpack’ them.
I think this is an epic fail on Jeep’s part. ‘A million miles of testing’ didn’t reveal that the recessed headlights were vulnerable to being packed with snow when coupled with LED lights?
How much is the LED package? $1,200!? How much more would it have cost FCA to include heating elements? About $50.
** EDIT: Geez! Seventeen pages! (and counting!)**
Here’s a concise summary of all those posts, for those of you that don’t want to read through all the malarkey.
1. Apply wax or rainx to the headlight lenses.
- I purchased some rainx plastic coating and applied it to one headlight. I’m curious to see if it fares better than the untreated one.
**Update: Completely ineffective **
2. (Most likely the best answer) install a pair of halogen accessory lights.
- ensure they’re aimed low to hopefully avoid blinding other motorists or pissing off Johnny Law.
- some claimed that high power led’s, such as Squadrens, get hot enough to melt snow. (But I still think halogens are the safest bet.)
**Edit: lights added *
**Update #2: Proof of concept
Even during a mild daytime snowstorm, the stock LED headlights and fog lights were rendered useless. Only the halogen accessory lights continued to project useable light.
3. There was a lively, yet ultimately fruitless, discussion about what Jeep should do. Folks landed in one of four camps:
- Jeep should have heated LED’s
- Jeep should offer heated LED’s
- Folks who don’t want to pull over to manually clear their headlights are p*ssies
- Jeep is perfect, if you criticize them in any regard, you’re a communist who pisses on the flag.
4. There was an even less useful discussion on FCA’s potential legal exposure.
- nothing useful came from that discussion.
5. For snow use, yellow tinted fogs are best.
**Edit: I tinted the KC covers yellow
6. Folks from New Jersey don’t like Utahns
- Your Moab privileges are hereby revoked.
…and that’s it, everything else was meaningless porch barking.
Sponsored
Last edited:
